Overturned an Obama executive order that was saving low income Americans money when buying a house

Removed all references to climate change from the White House website

Removed all references to LGBT rights

Sent a memo ordering "a government wide "regulatory freeze until further confirmation"

Signed executive order to let agency heads take action to "ease the burden" of the Affordable Care Act with an intent to repeal it

Changed decor of the Oval Office to all gold (I know--doesn't really impact any of us, but it's just sooo Trumpian)

Shut off the Twitter account of National Park Service because they tweeted facts about his small inaugural crowd

Began preparing a budget that cuts funding for many social programs like National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for Humanities, Corporation For Public Broadcasting, Legal Services for poor, Violence against Women grants

In other words, President Trump acted exactly as Candidate Trump and President Elect Trump had done and had been telling us what he would do.

He reinforced his image as a bullying, narcissistic, egomaniacal man with no concern for working men and women and a complete lack of overarching values or desire for unity.

January 21, 2017

The Saturday's Women's March On Washington was huge and peaceful. Hundreds of thousands of American citizens committed in their antipathy to the impending tyranny of Donald Trump.

The President's press secretary went in full rant to excoriate the press for accurately reporting attendance at the inauguration. Sean Spicer simply lied in the face of all facts to the contrary.

That's a tried and true Trump technique followed by another usual Trump 101 tactic of intimidating the press ("We will hold you accountable").

Spicer reminds that the administration can go around the press through social media.

He might want to remember that rest of us can do the same thing: go around the administration through the press and social media.

And, Trump's belligerent bellowing notwithstanding, there are more of us than there are of them.

Here are a few excerpts from Associated Press coverage of the Women's March.

WOMEN'S MARCH WAS PEACEFUL AND HUGE

A day after more than 200 people were arrested in Washington while protesting the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the Woman's March on Washington didn't yield a single arrest.

That's according to the District of Columbia's homeland security director, Christopher Geldart.

WOMEN'S MARCH WAS HUGE AND HAD MORE INVOLVED THAN THE INAUGURATION

Geldart says it is safe to say the crowd at the Women's March exceeded the 500,000 that organizers told city officials to expect. That would make it one of the largest demonstrations in the city's history.

Transportation officials in Washington say Saturday is already the fifth busiest Saturday in the subway system's history.

By 4 p.m. Saturday, Metro tweeted that it has recorded more than 597,000 trips on the system and seen heavy crowds entering at all downtown stations.

Metro spokesman Dan Stessel says the system usually sees about 620,000 trips on a normal weekday and it's many times busier than a usual Saturday.

Stessel says the ridership numbers are on track to ultimately top the system's busiest Saturday of all time, the day of the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear hosted by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in 2010.

TRUMP GOT A FIRST HAND VIEW

On his way back from the CIA, President Donald Trump has gotten a first-hand look at the Women's March on Washington.

As the president's motorcade wound through downtown Washington, he passed by hundreds of protesters lining the streets.

Many were holding bright pink signs, and they screamed and chanted as he drove past them in the impossible-to-miss presidential limo. Thousands gathered on the Ellipse are also visible from the White House lawn.

Their roar was also clearly audible to passengers stepping out of the presidential motorcade and back into the White House.

January 16, 2017

Although I wasn't there, thanks to the internet I watched both Jim Justice midnight oath at the Greenbrier chapel and his official swearing in on the state Capitol steps.

The excitement and enthusiasm seems to flow from the crowd and thru the social media screens to give even this jaded old man a sense that we might be on the brink of something big.

The newly-sworn governor retold a tale from the campaign that seemed to ring honest and gave me hope he really has "the little people" at heart.

He said the struggle of West Virginians has touched him on a personal level. From underneath the podium, he pulled out a tackle box and an ax, saying he had come across a woman who was selling them, among her only possessions, for money just to get by. “Mister, you don’t have any idea how bad I’m hurting,” Justice said the woman told him. (wvmetronews.com)

He also was brave enough to say firmly that the state can't fix its budget crisis without raising revenue.

“We have got to find a way to raise revenue,” he said. “We cannot continue to just kick the can down the road and drain more of the Rainy Day because we’re not going to go anywhere.”

Justice promised on the campaign trail he would not raise taxes on West Virginians, but during his address, said he was open to any new idea to tackle the problem. (WVpublic.org)

He directly addressed both majority and minority leaders in the House and Senate to set aside partisanship and work for the best of the state.

That's a heavy lift in the highly partisan climate of our state legislature. But somehow, Justice gave me a sense he may be the guy to pull it off.

Education, infrastructure, and drugs are all on Justice' priority list as well. But we'll need to wait for February 8 to get details in his first state of the state speech.

I still worry that WV's richest man will find government a more complicated needle to thread than his private businesses. He can't just say "make it so" and it will be done. He and his team need to wrangle support and votes.

And any big dream is easier when you have a billion in the bank rather than a budget in the red.

I've been a Justice skeptic and I'll still wait and see. But today's pomp and ceremony, excitement and applause coupled with some of the new Governor's own words are giving me a little sense of hope.

“We can do it,” Justice said at the conclusion of his speech. “We will do it. It’s time for us to claim our place. It is truly West Virginia’s time.”

In these perilous political times, I'll take a single day with a little ray of hope.

January 13, 2017

The goal of private enterprise is to make money. The goal of government is to serve its citizens.

As WV lawmakers and soon-to-be Governor Justice prepare to deal with the budget, they should begin with deciding what they need to do, then figure out how to get the revenue to do it.

Set their goals and implement them.

You don't look at your pile of cash and say "that's all we've got, so that's all we can do". You look at your list of priorities and say "we need to find a way to do these things".

Are all functions of state government mandatory at their current levels? Probably not. There are some that can be trimmed, maybe even some eliminated. But those that are left need funded. And legislators need to be willing to do whatever they must to serve the citizens.

Not their corporate masters and campaign contributors.

Living "within your means" is easy. Working to find ways to get your job done, achieve your goals, and serve the citizens--well, that requires adult thinking, risk taking, and some creative ideas.

January 11, 2017

A steep learning curve, deepening budget crisis, and increased partisan divide will set the stage for West Virginia's government this year.

As the Mountain State legislature becomes deeper red, the executive branch is going through major personnel upheaval. In addition to newly elected Governor Jim Justice, November's election put new faces on the board of public works: Mac Warner, Secretary of State; Kent Leonhardt, Ag Commissioner; J. B. McCuskey, Auditor.

And Justice has essentially purged all of Earl Ray Tomblin's top appointments replacing them with newcomers.

These executive branch changes mean all top leadership steps into jobs they have to learn. Good and capable people to be sure, but with lots of systems and info to assimilate quickly.

That puts a lot of responsibility on Justice's Chief of Staff, Nick Casey, who brings significant previous experience in government to his post and will be a point man, not just for the governor but for other appointed department heads as they learn the ropes.

Republican Secretary of State Mac Warner has already told many of current Secretary Natalie Tennant's team that they will no longer be needed. And most of the new Board of Public Works will likely bring key team members with them rather than keeping the current, as is standard practice with change of leadership.

Even the WV Supreme Court gets into the action with the firing of long time court administrator Steve Canterbury.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss told state lawmakers Tuesday that if there are no further state budget cuts or tax increases the 2018 fiscal year budget will have a deficit “north of $400 million.”(wvmetronews.com)

GOP legislators seem dead set against any kind of tax hike.

“The people of West Virginia are struggling financially and cannot endure additional tax burdens to prop up government," Senate President-elect Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, said. "Just as each family is faced with difficult financial choices when money is scarce, our state government must do the same. (TheStateJournal.com)

Which means more cuts likely could be coming. It may be phrased as "rightsizing" or "reforming", but you can expect calls for less government, perhaps more privatization, and it seems certain that all of these will focus on cuts for things the state's working/middle class benefits from. GOP controlled legislature seems certain to leave big business tax breaks alone and perhaps even ask for more.

Asked by another reporter if he still thinks he can propose a balance budget without raising taxes, Justice said: “You never say never, no matter what the situation might be. But I believe with all my soul, yes, I can do it.”(WVmetronews.com)

The Mountain State's working men and women have been taking it on the chin the last several years as the Republicans have taken charge (removing prevailing wage, establishing right to work). And there is little reason to think this year will be any different.

These will come in many disguises and many will sound good: "Government reform", "tort reform", "rightsizing" but they will amount to the same thing--giving big business greater sway and taking more from our working class.

Higher ed which has been hard hit by continuing cuts from Tomblin as revenues dwindle can anticipate more efforts at reducing their state support. Education is a literal and philosophical investment in our future. Literal because a recent report shows that colleges, universities, and community colleges all bring more economic impact to their communities than they cost. And, of course, philosophical because an investment in education is an investment in our children and our future.

As revenue enhancements, budget cuts, or even Justice's once-mentioned "bridge loan" concept are debated to get us through the 2018 budget crisis, lawmakers also need to look at redirecting WV's economy. Broadband expansion, marijuana legalization of some sort, and other creative approaches need considered. Legislators need to take a hard look at how they can lead into new economic opportunities--recognizing it's the private sector that ends up bringing the new jobs.

The budget should be priority number 1,2,3,4, and 5 for legislators when they kick into gear next month, but I fear that the ALEC-driven agenda of right wing social issues--such as a revisit of the RFRA (the incorrectly named Religious Freedom Restoration Act)--may end up back on the agenda as well.

The so-called "judicial hellhole" report--which is just a PR ploy by big business and insurance groups--has removed the Mountain State from its list, but that won't stop the GOP from mounting additional attacks on your right to redress when you've been aggrieved.

Budget crisis management when the legislature is politically divided, attempts at more attacks on working men and women, new faces across the board, and a need to be forward thinking will be a major juggling act for everyone involved in state government.

January 03, 2017

2016 was a fascinating year. And 2017 presents its own special challenges.

A movement to youth and change in Wheeling as a new, social-media-savvy crop of council candidates swept into City Hall this Spring along with an Ohio County school board election that realigned the balance of power and seemed to smooth over the nasty edges we saw for the previous year topped the nonpartisan races.

November saw a deepening red in WV politics and the stunning surprise of Trump's victory was joined with local losses of incumbents and expected winners locally and regionally.

Personally, it was an exciting year as I was inducted into the WV Broadcasters Hall of Fame, was named co-Grand Marshall of Wheeling's Christmas parade, and spent even more time with my delightful grandson, Teddy.

(Check out my SoundCloud account for audio podcasts of my interviews on 2016 in review).

But now Father Time has flipped the calendar and here are some things I think we should watch in 2017.

CITY OF WHEELING

**Wheeling council needs to develop a clear vision of what Downtown is supposed to be and articulate it clearly to business and residents. The purchase, demo and redevelopment of the 1100 block was very forward thinking and there are other positive moves being made--but to what end? What is the vision?

**A glaring need for Downtown is parking. Hundreds of new employees of the Health Plan will stream into Downtown Wheeling later this year but there is simply no convenient parking. Many on the current council feel parking is not the best use of Downtown space as they want a more "walkable" city.

**Balancing the desire to save, rehab, and re adapt some of the city's older structures will need to be balanced with the financial realities of doing so as well as with the potential future development of those buildings.

**With the largest industrial project in Ohio coming close to reality, all Ohio Valley communities need to scramble to be prepared for the big changes a new fracker will bring. Housing availability, housing prices, infrastructure demands, even more restaurants and other services are all going to be issues. Business and government need to be proactive and prepared. Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliot has put a couple of planning committees in place and they need to move aggressively.

COMING UP NEXT POST: WEST VIRGINIA, OHIO, AND NATIONAL ISSUES THAT MAY BE FLASHPOINTS IN 2017